Dustin’s boy has traits of master
Bombers convinced they have a star of the future sitting on runway
ESSENDON has a Dustin Fletcher “clone” waiting in the wings, with the 400-gamer’s son Mason rapidly developing his game as he enters his final season of underage football.
Mason is spending this month training with the Bombers, who have shown early interest in selecting him as a father-son at November’s national draft.
The 17-year-old currently stands 1cm shorter than his famous father at 197cm and similarly has a lean frame, the only noticeable difference between the two being the younger Fletcher’s flowing orange mop of hair.
Mason’s TAC Cup coach at Calder Cannons last year, Andrew Johnston, said there were clear similarities between father and son right down to Mason’s love of kicking a long torpedo.
“He really is a clone of his dad. He just looks like him physically and runs around like him,” Johnston said.
“He’s really able to drop off his man and read the play and spoil and mark the ball. He has a crack at doing the prodigious torpedo punts, too.”
Mason played 10 games in the TAC Cup in his bottomage year last season, spending most of his time at full-back, while also playing school football for Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School.
Johnston said while matching his father’s 400 AFL game tally might be a stretch, the early signs were there that Mason could carve out a successful career at the top level.
“The game’s probably changed a little bit since his old man came through,” Johnston said. “He’s got the pedigree to really make it at that level. He’s just got to keep developing and keep improving but he’s certainly got the qualities and the attitude to make it.”
Mason would be the third generation of his family to represent the Bombers, with his grandfather Ken Fletcher having also played 264 games for the club from 1967-1980.
The Calder Cannons have another father-son prospect this year in Rhylee West, son of seven-time Western Bulldogs best-and-fairest and 324game midfielder Scott West.